My ancestors, they hail from . . . the redlands of Texas . . . and the marshes of Maine . . . the plantations of Georgia . . . and the courts of Spain . . . and from a hodgepodge of places . . . betwixt and between . . .

The story behind the 1987 movie, The Whales of August, was based on the memories of the author, David Berry . . . regarding time spent at the family cottage on Peaks Island . . . The water-themed postcards on this collage are images of Peaks Island . . . which is the most populated of the multiple islands that dot the surface of the waters of Casco Bay . . . clockwise from the upper left, the captions on these postcards are as follows --

S.S. Merryconeac landing at Pier, Peaks Island, Me.

General view of water front, Peak's Island, Maine

The Steamboat Landing, Peaks Island

On the float, Peaks Island, Me.

Based on the few words scribbled on the back of some old family photos, it seems apparent that my New England maternal kinfolk spent time on Peaks Island at least through the 1920s . . . the sepia-toned image in the lower right corner is a photo of my maternal grandma . . . the words on the back simply say, "Elizabeth and Beauty, Peaks Island, June 25, 1925."Another photo from the same collection, dated the same day, is the black and white image towards the left which is simply inscribed with the date and the words . . . "5th Me." . . . when I first saw those words, I had no idea what they meant, or what the building in the photo was . . . but after a bit of detective work, I found that this is a photo of what is now known as the Fifth Maine Regiment Museum on Peaks Island . . . Elizabeth's maternal grandpa, Peter Brackett (1838-1927), had enlisted in Co. B of the Fifth Maine infantry in 1861 . . . Regarding Peaks Island itself, A history of Peaks Island and its people . . . by Nathan Goold (1897) says that --

The history of Peaks Island commences almost with the settlement of Portland, and perhaps before. . . . George Cleeve and Richard Tucker settled Portland in 1633 and built themselves a log house near the spot where the poet Longfellow was born in 1807. . . . In 1637, by a commission from Sir Fernando Gorges, for letting and settling of lands and the islands, Cleeve leased Pond (Peaks) Island to Michael Mitton for sixty years, and stated that the name should be Michael's Island for Mitton, who had married his daughter, Elizabeth Cleeve. . . .

At a meeting held in Portland on Monday evening, February 27, 1882, the Maine Historical Society celebrated the seventh-fifth birthday of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow . . . it was the desire of the members that Mr. Longfellow himself might honor the Society by his presence on that occasion . . . but he was prevented by illness from attending . . . and he died less than a month later . . . The following is excerpted from a tribute read by James Phinney Baxter on that evening . . . I quote it here because it waxes poetic about the sea (water) as well as about our great-grandpa Cleeves --

. . . Dear Master let me take thy hand a space,And lead thee gently wheresoe'er I may;With the salt sea's cool breath upon thy face,And in thine ears the music of the spray,Which rapt in days agone thy sould away,Where hung full low the golden fruit of truth,Within the reach of thy aspiring youth.Thou knowest well the place: here built George CleevesAlmost two centuries before thy birth;Here was his cornfield; here his lowly eavesSheltered the swallows, and around his hearthThe red men crouched, -- poor souls of little worth:Thou with clear vision seest them, I know,As they were in the flesh long years ago.

Surely the shrewd, persistent pioneerBuilt better than he knew: he thought to buildA shelter for himself, his kith and gear;But felled the trees, and grubbed and ploughed and tilled,That in the course of time might be fulfilledA wondrous purpose, being no less than this,That here a poet might be born to bliss.

Ah! could he but have tracked adown the dimLong, weary path of years, and stood to-daywith thee and me, how would the eyes of himHave flashed with pride and joy to hear men say,Here Cleeves built the first house in Casco Bay;Here, too, was our Longfellow's place of birth,And sooth, God sent his singers upon earth. . . .

Here will I bid thee, Master, fond good-by,Wishing thee soul-health and full many a dayOf blissful living, ere thou mayest tryThe scope of other joys. And now I mayThis wreath from Deering's Woods, O Master! I layUpon thy brow. God speed thee while the sunShines on the faithful work which thou hast done!

It has been said that Longfellow used words to paint visions of the New England coast and its waters . . . a talent which is well illustrated in an unpublished passage of blank verse from his journal dated the 18th August 1847 --

O faithful, indefatigable tides,That evermore upon God's errands go,Now sea-ward, bearing tidings of the land,Now land-ward, bearing tidings of the sea,And filling every frith and estuary.Each arm of the great sea, each little creekEach thread and filament of water-courses,Full with your ministration of delight!Under the rafters of this wooden bridgeI see you come and go; sometimes in hasteTo reach your journey's end, which being doneWith feet unrested ye return again,But recommence the never-ending task,Patient, with whatever burdens ye may bear,And fretted only by impending rocks.

Another Longfellow poem -- A Gleam of Sunshine -- simply states that . . .

This is the place. Stand still, my steed,Let me review the scene,And summon from the shadowy PastThe forms that once have been.The Past and Present here uniteBeneath Time's flowing tide,Like footprints hidden by a brook,But seen on either side. . . .

P.S. To my ancestors and loved ones . . . see you on the other side . . .

The above postcard collage . . . featuring postcards with a water theme . . . was originally prepared in August of 2009 for the 4th edition of Evelyn Yvonne Theriault's Festival of Postcards . . .

Evelyn & Beth, thank y'all so much for stopping by and reading and commenting on what I share here. I do enjoy yall's visits.

Before working on this particular blogpost, I did not have a clue that there existed a poem that mentioned some connection between great-grandpa Cleeves and Longfellow.

When I saw the theme for the month of August would be water, I immediately thought of The Whales of August (luv that movie), and of Peaks Island.

As per my usual tendency to try to genealogize everything I blog about, I knew I had 1920's family photos from Peaks Island to supplement the Peaks postcards. And I knew our family connections to Peaks went all the way back to great-grandpa Cleeves during the 17th century.

While reading about Peaks Island, I came across an anonymous quote that I liked, so I Googled it to see who penned those words about "footprints hidden by a brook, but seen on either side." That search led me to Longfellow's poem, "A Gleam of Sunshine."

Then I remembered mention of some connection between great-grandpa Cleeves and Longfellow, so I started Googling their names. And that led me to the Longfellow tribute poem that was read on Longfellow's 75th birthday in 1882 -- which alludes to the story that the land of Longfellow's birth at one time belonged to great-grandpa Cleeves.

And then I started reading other Longfellow poems and remembering how much I love his work. I had to drag myself back to the 21st century to finish this blogpost, but I have several sites bookmarked for going back and endulging in a little Longfellow reading. Note to self . . . make a trip to Half-Price Books this weekend . . . V. . . .

Hello again Vickie,I'm just dropping by to leave you a link to the next Festival of Postcards (October issue - Quadrupeds)http://wp.me/pp92w-4XmI hope you'll be able to take part again,Evelyn in Montreal

Vickie, your blog is my inspiration...having grown up on Casco Bay, and spending many idyllic hours on Peaks Island, as well as being a long-time Longfellow devotee, I especially loved this post. It made me miss home even more...